


body is a cage

by ErinNovelist



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Brotherly Bonding, Family, Feels, Gen, Lazarus Pit, Mind Control, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:01:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23194393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErinNovelist/pseuds/ErinNovelist
Summary: Jason doesn’t respond to Ra’s al Ghul—not a twitch of a brow or a quirk of his lips. He remains as stoic and passive as the day he first stepped foot into the complex, like a ghost haunting the night. Even though his body walks, his mind is long dead.However, as Ra’s well knows, the Lazarus Pit will certainly change all that.OR: A parasite controls the Red Hood, Ra's al Ghul is out for Batman's blood, Bruce wants his son back, and Jason just wants to go home
Comments: 6
Kudos: 113





	body is a cage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CaptainOzone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainOzone/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to talk to me @agrestenoir on tumblr or @thirdstrikes on Twitter!

Ra’s al Ghul stands on the edge of a green pool, Lazarus water lipping over the rim of rock to soak his feet. Lips pursed in a thin line, he murmurs a few words under his breath into the phone pressed against his ear as chaos brims around him. A handful of assassins stand guard at the entrance of the cavern, shifting uneasily on their feet. It’s not often that the League of Assassins—anyone that Ra’s al Ghul has singlehandedly collected—is ever thrown, but as news of Batman’s latest crusade trickles through the lines, it’s hard to keep the panic from simmering over.

Another Lazarus Pit has been destroyed.

A boy kneels on the ground beside Ra’s, cloaked in black and red, distant eyes staring at his own reflection with no flicker of the spitfire that went up in flames on a winter night in Ethiopia. It’s been months since Talia brought Jason Todd to the League and tried to train him and bring back the son that Bruce Wayne loved. Ra’s holds no ill will to the boy, but with Batman looming ever closer to wiping the Lazarus Pits from the world, certain measures must be taken to protect his assets.

The person on the other end of the line clicks out with a sharp _zztt_ , static echoing like a long, drawn-out scream that Ra’s refuses to let fall. Batman has finally caught up to the communication post of the Lazarus Pool in Tibet, which means the Demon Head has lost all contact with his forces on that end. It’s a lost cause now—not that he ever had any doubt as to how that venture would turn out.

If there’s one thing about the Detective that Ra’s al Ghul admires, he’s certainly thorough.

The same story is written into the scars on Jason Todd’s skin, the incision across his torso and burns along his scapular planes, that speaks of death and the search even after. Bruce clearly couldn’t let his son rest in peace even after his heart stopped. Ra’s is almost surprised that the Detective hadn’t asked to use the Lazarus Pits to revive the young boy, though it would’ve been a favor earned for a favor given, but he hasn’t ever known Bruce to simply let things go—especially when it comes to family.

Ra’s al Ghul knows that if Bruce Wayne were to discover that Jason Todd was alive, then there would be nothing to stop him from burning the entire empire of the League of Assassins to the ground to find his son.

This, indeed, will be Ra’s saving grace.

“I’ve always tried to meet the Detective halfway,” he tells the boy, even if Jason can’t make sense of it. “Especially for my daughter and grandson’s sake. But some things, Mr. Todd, I simply cannot stand by and watch.”

Jason doesn’t respond to Ra’s—not a twitch of a brow or a quirk of his lips. He remains as stoic and passive as the day he first stepped foot into the complex, shadowed and fragile, like a ghost haunting the night. Even though his body walks, his mind is long dead. However, as Ra’s well knows, the Lazarus Pit will certainly change all that.

“There is no hard feelings between us, rest assured,” Ra’s says and rolls the sleeves of his cloak up to his elbows as he turns to face the boy. “I have always admired your tenacity as Robin, and that fire when you fight has not disappeared with the rest of you. In fact, it’s that same fire I need now.”

He snaps his fingers towards one of the guards, signaling him to bring a container forward. The glint of black squirming in the tank held tightly between the guard’s hands makes Ra’s smile. It’s an ugly sort of thing, a parasite that can only survive in Lazarus waters, driven to near extinction before Ra’s could save a few handfuls. Talia likes to theorize that these specimens are all that remains of the death and decay that the Lazarus Pit cleanses and such darkness is the only thing that feeds them. Ra’s is inclined to agree, if only because these thoughts serve a greater purpose in helping him shape the world in his image.

It’s a black living ribbon, rippling and twisting in the green water, hundreds of frayed edges reaching out to slash at the glass of the tank that holds it prisoner. Those connections might look frail, but Ra’s has seen them cut through brainstems and bone with little effort. These parasites are not creatures to be underestimated. 

With an ease to his movements, Ra’s places his foot onto Jason’s broad back, forcing the boy to hunch over his knees and press his forehead into the cool stone of the cavern. A quick twist of the tank’s lids and flick of his wrist has Ra’s pouring the contents over Jason’s neck. A scream, something that makes his ears ring fierce, breaks out when the parasite means cloth and air, squirming as it tries to get used to the new environment. For a moment, it flounders but then finds purchase as it feels the heat emanating from Jason’s body, and the hundreds of connections tear through the fabric of his shirt to get to the skin underneath.

A strangled gasp. A long moan. The cry of a boy in pain.

As a parent, these things should make Ra’s heart ache, but the Demon Head lost his ability to feel a long time ago. All it does now is make his smile grow wider. It means the process is _working_.

The splashes of the Lazarus waters against the rock are the only sounds discernible. It’s quiet, like the world is holding its breath to see what comes next. Blood drips down in puddles under Jason as the parasite burrows into his neck and settles into a mess of flesh and blood and bone. The connections reach up under the brain and wind around his spinal cord, and the black sinks deep into everything that is Jason Todd.

And then it _is_ Jason Todd.

Ra’s laughs, something cold and steely, as he presses more of his weight on the boy’s back. “The parasites can’t survive outside of the Lazarus Pit, you know.” He leans forward, black inky eyes watching the creature settle into its new home. “You should be honored. It’s not every day I let a street rat bathe in its waters.”

There’s a few seconds of silence, Jason’s gasping breaths reverberating off the cavern walls, and then Ra’s lurches forward and pushes him into the Lazarus Pit. Green waters overwhelm the boy like tides crashing over a shore, dragging him down into their depths and refusing to let go. The surface of the Pit bubbles where he disappears, and a high-pitched scream whistles through the cavern, but there’s no telling where it’s coming from.

There’s silence, the span of a single heartbeat.

A pale hand suddenly breaks, reaching for the rocky shore with trembling fingers.

Ra’s al Ghul only smiles.

It’s time for Batman to meet his end.


End file.
